July 10 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday, boosted by the energy group, which gained on the back of rising oil prices.
* At 9:34 a.m. ET (13:34 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was up 42.73 points, or 0.26 percent, at 16,495.07.
* Seven of the index's 11 major sectors were higher. The energy sector .SPTTEN climbed 0.9 percent, while the consumer staples sector .GSPTTCS gained about 2 percent.
* The energy sector rose as oil prices increased by more than 1 percent, moving towards $79 per barrel due to growing supply outages, with Norway shutting one oilfield as hundreds of workers began a strike and Libya saying its production more than halved in recent months. O/R
* U.S. crude CLc1 prices were up 0.8 percent, while Brent crude LCOc1 added 1.6 percent.
* Consumer staples were boosted by shares of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc ATDb.TO , which rose 8.5 percent after beating analysts' quarterly profit estimate on Monday. Economic data showed the value of Canadian building permits rose in May, reversing a decline in the prior month, as strong intentions to build houses outweighed weakness in the non-residential sector. Another piece of data showed Canadian housing starts surged in June, as groundbreaking on multiple unit urban homes jumped 46.4 percent, offsetting a small decline in single detached urban starts. The financial sector .SPTTFS gained 0.2 percent and industrial sector .GSPTTIN rose 0.2 percent.
* The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart as the greenback climbed broadly, while investors braced for a potential Bank of Canada interest rate hike on Wednesday. On the TSX, 140 issues were higher, while 89 issues declined for a 1.57-to-1 ratio favouring gainers, with 7.42 million shares traded.
* Top percentage gainers on the TSX were shares of Alimentation Couche-Tard, which jumped 8.5 percent and Precision Drilling PD.TO , which rose 4 percent.
* First Capital FCR.TO fell 3.7 percent, the most on the TSX, followed by Morneau Shepell's MSI.TO 3.2 percent decline.
* The most heavily traded shares by volume were Bombardier BBDb.TO , Horizonte Minerals HZM.TO , and Mav Beauty Brands MAV.TO .
* The TSX posted nine new 52-week highs and one new low.
* Across all Canadian issues there were 23 new 52-week highs and seven new lows, with total volume of 13.08 million shares.